Steelers wary of damage Bills QB Josh Allen can cause with arm, legs

After the Pittsburgh Steelers absorbed their first loss of the season Monday, they had a chance to flick the channel to ESPN and get a preview of what awaits them this weekend in Buffalo.

What defensive captain Cameron Heyward saw looked familiar.

There was Bills quarterback Josh Allen moving around in the pocket and lighting up the San Francisco 49ers for 375 yards and four touchdowns in Buffalo’s 34-24 romp.

To Heyward, it resembled a certain Steelers quarterback at a similar stage of his NFL career.

“He’s very similar to a young Ben,” Heyward said, “a guy who can extend the pocket and makes plays with his feet as well.”

From a physical standpoint, Allen is his generation’s Ben Roethlisberger. Each quarterback stands 6-foot-5 and is listed near 240 pounds, and each is known for making plays happen by scrambling around the backfield and finding an open receiver.

Roethlisberger, though, never was known to take off and run like Allen has in his first three seasons with the Bills. Allen rushed for 1,141 yards combined in his first two seasons and has 322 this year with four games remaining. His career rushing yards already are more than Roethlisberger has amassed in a 17-year career. Allen also has 23 rushing touchdowns in 40 career games.

“Sometimes he runs to escape. Sometimes he has called plays for him in terms of draws and stuff like that,” said defensive coordinator Keith Butler, who also compared Allen to Roethlisberger. “Sometimes he runs sweeps. We have to be ready for him doing that at all times. He is an effective runner for them.”

Allen’s ability to break long runs, combined with his improved passing skills, makes him the type of dual threat the Steelers have seen only sparingly this year. DeShaun Watson and defending NFL MVP Lamar Jackson are comparable in style, but they haven’t produced wins as consistently this year as Allen, who has led the Bills to a 9-3 record with wins in five of the past six games.

The task will fall on Heyward and Stephon Tuitt to hold the edge of the defensive line, and outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith to keep Allen contained so he can’t get outside the pocket to run.

“It’s critical,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “It’s critical in all circumstances, but particularly when you have a guy that has the type of mobility he has and the type of schematics that they have that highlight his mobility.”

Allen hasn’t been too shabby when throwing, either. He ranks fifth among all passers this year with 3,403 yards, is sixth with 26 touchdown passes and fourth with a 69.9 completion percentage, which was the knock on him coming out of Wyoming. Ranked No. 32 last year in adjusted completion percentage, which takes into account dropped passes among other variables, Allen has improved to fourth with an 80.2 percentage.

Consider what Allen did to the 49ers. It was just the second time in San Francisco’s storied history it was torched for 375 yards passing and four touchdowns in a game. The only other quarterback to do it was Hall of Famer Dan Fouts in 1982.

That performance was good enough for Allen to win AFC Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season, putting him in the NFL MVP discussion. It also was the third time this year he threw for at least 375 yards with four TDs, no interceptions and a 130-plus passer rating. The only other NFL quarterback to establish that benchmark was Drew Brees in 2013.

“Everything starts with him and runs through him,” cornerback Cam Sutton said. “He’s done a great job of taking that step this year. He’s making all the checks and calls at the line. They’ve given him a lot more freedom, moving guys around and putting him in good situations to stay on schedule and make plays out there on the field. It’s a testament to him.”

Allen has benefited from the acquisition of wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who leads the NFL with 90 receptions and has totaled 1,037 receiving yards. Cole Beasley, in his second year with the Bills, has 66 caches for 797 yards.

“They have really good balance,” Tomlin said. “They do a good job of mixing the run and the pass, changing the launch points and doing things that good offenses do, but it all stems from the talents and the exploits of Josh Allen.”

When the teams met in Week 14 last season at Heinz Field, Allen was a modest 13 of 25 for 139 yards and one touchdown, although he ran for another score in Buffalo’s 17-10 win. It began a three-game slide for the Steelers that knocked them from the playoffs for the second year in a row.

“It’s up to us to rewrite the story,” Heyward said.